Authors: Dicey Grenor
Glad she came up
with that on her own, but
Rafe
remembering things was
a complication I could do without. “Do you think he’ll keep his word? I mean,
about going to the cops
if
you contact him?”
She thought for a
moment. “Yes. But if I catch wind that he considers doing anything different, I’ll
let you know so you can kill his ass.”
I was shocked…and
touched. She had all but begged me not to kill him before. “You’d do that for
me?”
She smiled. “You
bet your sweet ass, I’d do that for you. You looked out for me. I’ll do the
same for you. I got your back.”
After the mess I’d
just uncovered about
Saybree
,
Cinnabuns’s
firm declaration of friendship was welcomed.
Uncharacteristic
of me, I gave her a friendly hug then went to find Republican Congressman
Kennedy P. McNair, also known as Mr. Cash. I was intending to do one of the
things humans hated us for—use my powers to influence the judicial system.
I’d be sure to go
after the right politician though.
Chapter 41
I exhaled
dramatically, hoping he’d catch the hint.
The Congressman
was losing the nickname Mr. Cash and becoming Mr. Motor Mouth of the South
quickly. He had been going on and on and on about his world-changing policies,
his devoted wife, his over-achieving children…and grandchildren.
Shut the
fuck up!
was
what I really wanted to say. I smiled
and nodded instead.
Good thing I was
full from
Remi’s
blood because I would have bit Mr.
Cash out of boredom or irritation by now.
I’d been trying to
ease into planting pro-vampirism seeds in his psyche, but there was no slow way
to do it. Either he was going to talk me to insanity or I was going to have to
jump in his brain full steam ahead.
I hadn’t noticed
how many drinks he ordered from the bar. Or the heavy bags under his eyes.
Or the sunken, patchy skin.
Or his significant weight loss.
Only thing different about him to me was his thick gray hair becoming the buzz
haircut he now sported. He had to point the other changes out to me.
Right before he
mentioned he was undergoing chemotherapy for brain cancer.
Whoa!
I really felt like
a douche. Knew it affected everyone differently, but damn. Covering up my
routine blood withdrawals with brain captivation had done a number on him.
Had affected him even worse than it had Aaron.
Good thing I didn’t
have to captivate Mr. Cash or Aaron for blood anymore.
Remi
was more than willing to donate.
But how much was
too much? Could I still get away with putting the alternates on a schedule
without harming Aaron further?
There was a chance
that Mr. Cash’s brain cancer had nothing to do with me, but it didn’t take a
rocket scientist to figure out it was a likely correlation, considering his
symptoms started around the time I had started captivating his memories
regularly.
“I’m so sorry, Mr.
Ca— McNair.” Good thing I caught myself before saying his nickname. He didn’t
know
Valentina
and I called him that.
And I really was sorry.
To make matters worse,
he was terminal. Specialists had done all they could do.
Well, there was no
way I was going to mess with his brain anymore.
Too guilty to
do that.
Then again, if
there was nothing more they could do for him, why not? He may as well die
after
doing something positive for what was left of the vampire community since
he’d been so instrumental in ruining it.
I was about to
manipulate his brain again, this time to plant political ideas instead of
altering his memories, when he said something shocking.
“I could really
use a vampire right about now to turn me so I can be cured. That’s the irony of
it all. I’ve worked to put them all to rest in their graves instead of
co-existing with us and now that I need one, I can’t find one.” He took a long
gulp and motioned for another double. “Even if I started hunting for a vampire
now, I may be dead by the time I found one who didn’t recognize me as the
hard-ass who fought against them. They’d never trust me. They’d never let me in
the clan.”
Total
shock.
Total
truth.
And it totally
gave me an idea. Just like how I let the Ten Commandments govern my existence,
my sense of right and wrong, I’d adopt a creed for turning humans.
My number one
principle for siring vampires was giving full disclosure. That included an
explanation of supernatural powers, cautionary tales of our weaknesses,
theories on soullessness, and expectations of our blood bond. My next principle
would be to only turn those looking for a cure, like me.
Those
who would have nothing to lose.
Those who would feel the risks were
worth taking. Who would sell their soul to exist in this world a little longer
without whatever ailed them when they were human.
With any luck,
being turned would actually cure them.
As
far as Mr. Cash was concerned?
He was right. He couldn’t be trusted. Let’s
say I wanted to give him hope so I confided in him tonight about being a
vampire. If he was miraculously healed tomorrow or there was a medical
breakthrough, he’d turn against me.
That was okay for
now because I wasn’t ready to turn him. I’d leave his mind alone and who knows.
Maybe he’d still be alive when I was ready. Alive and desperate for what I had
to offer. Like
Saybree
said, I’d be doing him a
favor.
By the time I
procured my heart, at least I’d know who to proposition first about eternal
damnation.
Chapter 42
“So,
Willow, how about Belvedere tonight?
I’d still like to buy you that
drink,” said Ming while I was packing up my duffle bag to go down to the
basement.
Onyx, who was
putting finishing touches on her costume since she performed onstage next,
paused in the middle of pulling up her white ankle socks. She popped her gum
loudly and stared, anxiously waiting for my answer to Ming.
I really would
rather see
Remi
tonight, but I didn’t want to seem
too clingy. Maybe I could call Aaron since I hadn’t seen him in a while. Just
to talk. I needed to have a heart-to-hollow chest
convo
with him anyway about who I was and what that meant for him.
Remi
and I had agreed that I should be the one to fill
Aaron in on everything, so I would. He had a right to know.
“Thanks, but I’m
going to take a rain check on that. I’m tired.”
“Aw,
c’mon.
I’ve been trying hard here. What if I promise to catch you if you
fall asleep?” Ming said as she teasingly poked me with her elbow.
“You might as well
go, Willow. Ming’s been
jocking
you since she first
got here.
What— you playing hard to get or
somethin
’?”
Onyx said.
Ming was
persistent. I’d give her that. Oh, what was the
worse
that could happen?
“All right.”
She beamed from
ear-to-ear and hurried out saying she was going to pull her car around back.
She wasn’t fooling anyone. She was hurrying before I changed my mind.
Fine.
Using the phone in the dressing room, I called Aaron
and asked if he’d meet me there. It was all about multitasking. I could finally
have a sensitive conversation with Aaron…after a pity date with Ming.
Perfect.
Since
I hadn’t expected to go anywhere but my room after work, I wore a faded sweat
suit with New Balance sneakers.
As far as I knew, no one was aware I was
staying in the basement except Franco, Punch, and Fire. It was important to
keep it that way to avoid questions.
Which meant I had to
wear whatever I had in my duffle bag.
Ming didn’t seem
to mind. As she drove with one hand on the wheel, she eyed me like I was a
piece of meat.
A gazelle to her lioness.
I checked her out
too, noticing her hair pinned with a set of diamond chopsticks in her customary
tight bun. She wore a white turtleneck with gray leggings and white stiletto
ankle boots. Her sense of style was always sharp, but now that I was satiated,
she didn’t seem as tempting as she had before. Her itty-bitty eyes were not
calling to me the way Aaron and
Remi’s
did and that’s
why I would not be able to enjoy her company tonight. Her being a woman had
nothing to do with it.
“Where’s your
duffle bag?” she said. “I can drop you off at your home when we leave here.
Where do you live?”
“I left it in the
dressing room.” Getting blood from
Remi
meant I didn’t
carry my phlebotomy kit anymore so I wasn’t afraid someone would snoop and
discover it. “I’ll get my own ride home.”
Some time passed
before she spoke again. “This is the first time we’ve been alone,” she said.
I nodded. Hoped
she didn’t have high expectations. “I don’t want to be out too late.”
“Thought
you were a night owl.”
I shrugged. “I
just have some things I need to do before morning.”
“It closes at two
anyway. That gives us about an hour there.”
I could do an
hour. Especially since Aaron was going to meet me. Maybe I should prepare her
for his arrival. “Okay. I hope you don’t mind—”
Didn’t
finish my statement because I fell asleep.
When I awakened,
we were parked in a large nearly-empty lot and she was digging in her designer
purse. She jumped when I sat up as if I had startled her.
She held her hand
over her heart. “Whew, girl you scared me.”
“What’s that?” I
inquired about the trinket in her hand.
“This? Oh, this is
my cross.” She hooked the gigantic silver necklace around her neck like she was
preparing to ward off an army of evil.
“Uh.
That’s a little odd to wear inside a bar isn’t it?” My left eye started
twitching so I averted my gaze elsewhere.
“I always wear it
when I go out. You never know what’s out there,” she said, laughing nervously.
Opening the door, she got out and waved for me to follow her.
Red flags were
going off in my head like crazy. What was this trick smoking?
Please hurry,
Aaron.
I followed her
inside and sat next to her at the bar. Looking around, I noticed (like most
bars) it wasn’t very busy on a Tuesday night. Good thing too, because this
swanky bar wouldn’t have normally allowed me in wearing sneakers.
She ordered two
gin and tonics after I mentioned I didn’t have a drink preference. I picked the
glass up a couple of times and pretended to drink. By the time she noticed my
glass hadn’t changed, hopefully Aaron would here. I’d pretend I was shocked to
see him, excuse myself, and leave with him.
She began talking
about her family, her college days, and her future plans. Why did everyone
assume I wanted to know so much about them?
She seemed
surprised when I mentioned I got a bachelor’s in fine arts.
Like
I had no business working at Hades with a college degree.
I tried not to
take it personally.
“Did you finish up
in Germany?” she said.
That really got my
attention.
Yes, I did complete
my final year of undergrad while I was in Germany with Max. After I had turned
and stayed with the clan, it just seemed the most sensible thing to do. Night
school had been awesome, in fact. Problem was—I had never told anyone I had
been to Germany. My own parents had no clue.
There was one
person who knew, however.
The one who had set me up with Max
in the first place.
Had Ming talked to
Saybree
?
If so, this qualified as a second betrayal from the back-stabbing witch as far
as I was concerned. Also reminded me I needed to tell Ming to stop babbling
about me to Monroe.
But
Saybree
was Dario’s mother. What was her connection to
Queen Ming? Dario had been trying to get revenge for the deaths of his wife and
son. What was Ming’s motivation?
Ming was staring at
me, waiting for an answer. “Yes. I finished in Germany.”
“What was that
like?”
“I enjoyed it.”
Best to answer only what was asked, but not to lie since she obviously had
insider info. She caught me in a
lie,
red flags may go
off for her as well.
She proceeded to
tell me about her stint in France.
Whatever.
Looking over her
head, I saw Aaron walk in the doorway. I immediately felt relieved. His blues
looked more silver than usual because he was wearing a blue long-sleeved dress
shirt with silver stripes and black slacks. His hair was slicked back, of
course, and he glanced down at the floor once he spotted me.
Too bad he wasn’t
great with eye contact because I really wanted to send him a message.
Fine.
I knew how.
I stretched my
psychic waves out to him so forcefully, he
misstepped
.
The gentleman he made waste beer was not pleased. Easing up, I retracted some
of my power so Aaron could focus on me.
Fully alert.
Fully shocked.
Please don’t
come over just yet. I’m going to excuse myself then—
My psychic message
to him was cut short when Ming rubbed me on the shoulder and excused herself to
the bathroom. If she was trying to flirt, she was doing a terrible job because
her touch had made my skin crawl. Matter of fact, it had given me the sudden
urge to flee.